Leading White Collar Litigator Joins Dechert as Regional Chair

Dechert LLP has hired white collar litigator Andrew S. Boutros as a partner in the firm’s Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices where he will serve as Regional Chair of the U.S. white collar practice. Profiled by the Chicago Sun-Times for having faced “some of the toughest, most sophisticated cases at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse,” he is an accomplished former federal prosecutor whose practice spans a broad range of white collar and civil litigation matters.

Mr. Boutros, who was National Co-Chair of the white collar, internal investigations, and false claims team at his former firm, joins Dechert’s global litigation practice, which is comprised of litigators in 21 offices across the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Mr. Boutros’ practice includes government enforcement defense, criminal and civil trials, internal investigations, false claims litigation, crisis management response, strategic counseling and compliance-related work. Among his clients, he represents one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies in connection with various litigations and investigations. He also represents the audit committee of one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies.

“We are excited to have Andrew on board. His experience working on high-profile national and international matters combined with his market knowledge across jurisdictions where our clients do business make him a strong fit for Dechert’s global team,” said Andrew Levander, Dechert’s Chairman.

“Andrew is a talented and well-respected litigator. We look forward to the energy, commitment and tenacity that he will bring to his practice at Dechert,” said Hector Gonzalez, Chair of Dechert’s global litigation practice.

“Dechert’s strong international platform and prominent reputation in sensitive, high stakes investigations and litigation present a great opportunity to serve market-leading clients, and I look forward to contributing to the global team,” Mr. Boutros said.

Mr. Boutros joins Dechert’s ranks of former federal prosecutors. A majority of his prosecutorial career was spent in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section of the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office where he led many cases of national and international significance. These included convicting the world’s largest drug trafficker on the dark website, “Silk Road,” as part of the multi-district Silk Road Task Force; convicting one of the country’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” mortgage fraud defendants; and successfully prosecuting what Bloomberg Businessweek described as “the largest food fraud in U.S. history,” involving a series of customs fraud, food fraud, and international trade fraud cases.

Mr. Boutros has published two books—one on international corruption with Oxford University and the second on compliance with the American Bar Association—and has authored more than 50 articles, book chapters and thought pieces. He is entering his tenth year of teaching at the University of Chicago Law School where he has developed his own course on corporate criminal prosecutions and investigations.

He received a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.S. from Virginia Tech, in-honors summa cum laude. Early in his legal career, Mr. Boutros clerked for the Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Other recent additions to Dechert’s global litigation practice include distinguished white collar and investigations partners Roger Burlingame, Anthony Kelly, Michael McGinley and Maria Sit, acclaimed product liability partners Sheila Birnbaum, Mark Cheffo, Douglas Fleming, Hayden Coleman, Douglas Dunham and Bert Wolff, renowned international trade partners Amanda DeBusk and Melissa Duffy, prominent antitrust litigation partner Shari Ross Lahlou, and elite commercial litigation partners Dorothy Cory-Wright, Simon Fawell, Robin Nunn and David Stern.

About Dechert

Dechert is a leading global law firm with 26 offices around the world. We advise on matters and transactions of the greatest complexity, bringing energy, creativity and efficient management of legal issues to deliver commercial and practical advice for clients.